A Mega Coffee branch in Seoul on April 1, 2025, left, and a Starbucks Korea store in Seoul on Jan. 24, 2025 [YONHAP, NEWS1]
Starbucks Korea's local competitors recorded measurable gains in the two weeks following the company's botched "Tank Day" marketing campaign as the coffee chain lost sales and app traffic.
Starbucks Korea's estimated card sales fell 18.2 percent in the week of May 17 to 23, from 31.9 billion won to 26.1 billion won, the lowest weekly figure since January 2023, according to alternative data platform Aicel. Payments through the Siren Order app declined 21.9 percent, indicating that the drop was concentrated among the chain's app-based regular customers rather than occasional buyers.
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The controversy began on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, when Starbucks Korea launched a "Tank Day" tumbler promotion. “Tank” is used in far-right online communities as a nickname for Chun Doo Hwan, the former Korean military dictator whose crackdown during the uprising left hundreds dead.
